Panterahead's daily driver revamp on a -budget project.

Hey guys I'm pretty new here I'll give my proper introduction to me and my truck in the wrong place sorry.
I've been doing a lot of research. Had a lot of helpful information come my way from https://www.tundras.com/threads/200...hing-else-seeking-opinions-commentary.156425/ Thanks to all you guys that bombarded my noggin. I learned a lot about the front suspension and how difficult it is to navigate Toyotas part system for a 2004 Toyota Dual Cab 4x4.
I have had this truck for about 10 years or so I'd have to dig deep to find the date. I haven't always been very kind to her on the maintenance front. Not because I don't have the tools or Knowledge to figure it out. Just have a kid that eats up all my time and money spent with Travel softball and wrestling. Hopefully my sacrifices help her out in the end. She is 17 now so who knows? She is definitely making better decisions than I was at that age I think at least. Even she drives a newer car than me.

Anyway In the past I learned not to mess with aftermarket stuff on this truck " for the most part" from doing the water pump and timing belt a few years back. after doing the bracket 3 times. Because I bought the adv auto Fan bracket aka false water pump. It broke again after about a month the first time then about 6 months later again under warranty. I bought the oem brand the third time and didn't worry about the warranty. Knock on wood still going strong a couple years later.
The worst part of that was figuring out the problem and that its called a false water pump not a fan bracket or housing. Not to mention the 6 hour haul back the first time it happened on a work trip. Actually every time it happened I was on the road for work. Hence the new policy I don't drive it on company time for work trips.
I could drive it to Florida tonight and back tomorrow on my own time and still be ok.

I really didn't plan on still having this truck at this point in life but life happens and here we are. Blows my mind that this truck still books around 7k or above depending on mileage I'm right at 210k I am a fan still but its hard to get the proper parts and she needs some front suspension work severely. For fucks sake its hard to buy a inside door handle for this truck.
I will try to keep this updated as I go and take pictures and screen shots of what I order. Some of it will not be the recommended oem parts... on me. I should have most the tools I need at home like a shop press and about any hand tool you can think of.

 

Good on ya, post some pics

 

Good on ya. Throw up some pics, we like pics!

That’s not uncommon. My truck is a 2000 and I have 1 kid in a 2017 and another in a 2006. I’d take my truck over anything new these days. It’s like that Dierks Bentley song, “I hold on”.

 

I will try to upload pics of my endeavor if serra toyota would ever send my parts still on hold been nearly a week since the last time I asked. they said everything had shipped to them and should only be a day or 2. Asked again tonight what the hold up is.
I got upper and lower ball joints, lower ball joint bolts, and tie rod ends, and lower strut mount bolts and nuts from them hopefully on the way soon.
I did order some aftermarket bearings and hubs Durago from RA. Don't shoot me I know order oem for that stuff I was going to do that but the serra toyota wanted 500 with out the hubs and I could get it from awawaa? and it was closer to the 300 I spent but was a month shipping.
So that's where I'm at on those. I may regret it but bank is slim and so is time. Went with the same raybestos brake kit I installed from RA 3 years ago even though I don't think they are any part of the issues. Haven't checked pads but both rotors are still smooth no grinding. I'm this far into it gonna swap them out again.

 

@The Black Mamba Ya the kids car might be newer than my truck but I only gave 500 for it unheard of in todays market even last year when I bought it. It drove home like riding on an unbalanced washing machine because all the engine and transmission mounts were trash because of a separated bearing in a cv joint at the trans side. weirdest thing I think I ever seen on a cv joint still cant wrap my head around it. Boots looked excellent no rips or tears. But one bearing inside one of the pockets was popped out of the pocket. I have never seen that happen. Changed all the mounts and brakes and a bunch of other dumb stuff due to the cv joint being that way. Knock on my wood head its still going.

Its not the vehicle that scares me to work on though that would be the old lady's 2018 Highlander. Because not only do you need a special specific oil filter wrench you have to tear apart the filter and rebuild it with a paper filter. I really feel that we went backwards on that deal as there are plenty of normal oil filters that are rated for 10 k plus. Not to mention the retarded sensors for cruise control and all that.

Ill gladly take my old truck over either because She may be Buschie about some parts Shes mine free and clear and loves me long time.

 

I’m a little OCD but incorrect terminology like dual cab and false water pumps just annoys on this forum. Post some pics.

 

@bfunke sorry if my translations are bad. I guess I always thought it was a dual cab proper for this truck.. it has 4 full doors.
As far as the false water pump the proper terminology from my understanding is the fan bracket. The parts store i was dealing with called it the other thought I said that in the earlier post.
Ok now I will post some pictures of the parts I finally got and the truck.
The cat litter soaking up the oil that special Ed is on is not from the Tundra. It's from the pile of crap mazda thats been in my way.

 

Ok here are pictures of what I hope to install this weekend.
And my special little helper.

 

The truck pic

 

No offense, but that's the weirdest fucking cat I've ever seen. Tell your friend smoking is bad for their health!

 

He is a weird ass cat for sure.

 

So the lower ball joints are not the correct ones. I thought I ordered the correct ones. Did as much due diligence as I could. Im screwed at this point. I thought I ordered the bigger ball joint for an 04.
Nope looked at order and the numbers match what they sent. Which were exact fit for my vin....
All the other stuff is correct why they made this shit so difficult I'll never understand.
I did take a bunch of pictures of doing the wheel bearing and the rest of the stuff. It's a big job you need lots of stuff. I will update that later but too Angry as I should've been re assembling.

 

Size of the bolt head is the typical indicator of small vs. larger LBJ on the '04s. 14mm = smaller joint, 17mm = larger joint. Going from memory on that. If the dealer won't let you return them (not sure who you ordered from), you may be able to recoup some of your expense selling them on the Marketplace here, once you reach the 50-non-spam post threshold.

There's a sticky thread dedicated to correct LBJ part numbers: https://www.tundras.com/threads/lower-ball-joints-part-numbers.97100/unread

The 2004 LBJ 'correct part number' info is in there, and this chatter on '04 trucks, IIRC.

 

I thought they were bigger ball joints i ordered. But they were not. So for now its getting a car quest lbj... I will contact Serra Toyota where I ordered them from. To see if I can return them. But that will be after I get it put back together hopefully in a couple of hours. I got the bearing tie rod end and ubj installed. Just gotta get the rest put back together.

 

Put the crapquest LBJ on for now but plan to replace it within a couple of month or you’ll regret it when your truck is destroyed.

 

@bfunke
I do still plan on getting the proper oem ball joints. The time will depend on if the dealer will take back the ones that are wrong or not. Hopefully they do and I can get it done in the next couple of weeks. At this point I only have the passenger side done. It took me alot longer to do one side than I anticipated

 

So so far I have gotten the passenger side done. Lots of hiccups along the way and it definitely took me alot longer than I thought.
Frozen cotter keys having to be drilled out snap rings having to be cut out instead of popped out etc. Following a poor information video on the press work for the wheel bearing.. luckily I didnt destroy the new one in hindsight.
Tie rod removal make sure you mark it so your atleast close on reinstall.
damaged bolt on lbj had to file the sides I assume it was hitting the lower arm when turned all the way to the left?


Pressing out the hub you will need atleast 3" of block ups to hold your press plates. I ended up using 3.5" of material. After the 2" didnt work hindsight since I was not reusing hub I could have continued it would have just pressed out the studs.
I used the old rotor as a base but put it on support tubes I've heard others say they have broken the hub.
This would be much easier with another pair of hands and if my press plates fit around the hub a little better. Also watch your toes when it finally comes loose.

 

Don't think I took picture of the 3.5" block up but same ides as shown in the other 2 pictures.



Seal was pretty easy just use a chisel and hammer to knock it off.
The snap ring was seized and I broke one of the pull ears just attempting to get it loose. So lots of pb blaster and the air hammer lightly punching all the way around the snap ring. Then take a cutoff wheel and notch the snap ring dont get into the spindle. After cutting a couple of notches I was able to chisel out the snap ring in peices.

 

To press out the old bearing You will need something round about 3-1/8" to 3-1/4" to I meant to figure this out and grab something or make it at work. Luckily I had something laying around that I could peice together.
Thankfully this part isn't as bad setting up in the press.

 

Make sure to clean up inside and outside of where the seals get installed. I forgot to do one and had to grind the rust with the new bearing installed not ideal. Make sure you clean the snap ring groove well also.


Use the old bearing to press the new one in. I will also note that a 20 ton HF press does not like this job. At a few points during removal I thought I was going to have to take it into work and use a bigger press.

where i forgot to clean the rust...
just tap the seal on with dead blow be careful and don't hit the rubber part.

 

I forgot pictures of pressing the hub back in. Thankfully I didnt ruin the new bearing as I did part of that process wrong make sure you support the bottom half of the bearing not just the spindle.
While pressing in the hub. There is potential to destroy a new bearing because there is 2 halves you need to support the bottom half.
Also after the hub is pressed in you need to install the abs ring then the spacer then press the spacer in. I didn't press the spacer in the first time careful what videos you watch.
I thought I destroyed my new bearing as when I put it back on it wobbled bad. Watched a diffrent video before I lost my mind.
This video is much more informative than the first one I watched.
https://youtu.be/_Yy9-VLahbA?
It saved me from tearing out a good bearing.


I ended up having to buy a HF ball joint press kit just for the cups. They are probably not Ideal but in a pinch it worked out to do the spacer and the UBJ with the spindle out. I swear I have more round stock somewhere but couldn't find it.
Thought I took pictures of doing the UBJ also but must not have. Pretty easy if you have cups for a ball joint remover or proper sized round material thats hard enough. I did it with spindle off in the press. Wasn't bad other than the ridiculous snap ring design with the pointed ends that don't work in your favor.

 

Discovered another issue today when reinstalling the spindle. I need new sway arm bushings that hold it in place. Ouch im sure this is contributing to some of my sloppy steering issues.

Well thats all the updates I have for now the passenger side is done other than getting another new oem LBJ when I can get that sorted. She made it into town and back things are better feeling than before.
I will tackle the drivers side when I have proper LBJs as I dont want to disturb it until then. I was hoping to have both sides done in a weekend wow this job is very time consuming and you better have alot of tools. Torch recommend it did make life a bit easier on a few things.
A 1/2 " impact or big cheater bars are a must for some things.

 

Yeah those front bearings are not a fun job. Similar hackery and fuckery was needed when I did mine. Scouring the shop for random bits to support, brace or press with. Old brake rotors, 4x4 post pieces, it took a lot of trial and error. And the 1Aauto video is the one I used. Sue is a beast. Forearms like Popeyes and no fear of the northeast rust. Must be from Jersey. Great job persevering and gittin er dun

 

Thanks I still gotta do the other side and I dread it because of how long it took. Ya she definitely deserves credit for the well detailed video. The other video I watched said nothing about pressing the spacer back in or supporting the back side of the bearing.
When I put it on the truck and the hub wobbled I thought I destroyed the bearing. Thankfully I found the other video that set me straight. And I know the proper way to do it now.